Much has been made of the so-called employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act, and its postponements. Of course, as a recent EBRI publication points out, the mandate (currently slated to be enforced effective in 2015) applies only to employers with 50 or more full-time workers – and most of these employers already offer health coverage to their workers. Last year, 91 percent of employers with 50–199 workers offered coverage, as did 99 percent of employers with 200 or more workers, according to the EBRI analysis.

However, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) defines a full-time employee as one who works 30 or more hours per week, on average – well below the 40-hour-week threshold typically associated with full-time employment. As a result, there is concern that employers may respond by cutting back on health coverage for part-time workers or by decreasing part-timer hours to keep them below the 30-hour-week threshold.

The EBRI report notes that, overall, there were 20 million workers employed under 30 hours per week and 18.8 million employed 30–39 hours per week in 2012. Among those employed between 30 and 39 hours per week, 6.3 million (33.6 percent) had employment-based coverage from their own job. In contrast, 60.5 percent of workers employed at least 40 hours per week had employment-based coverage from their own job.

Has the PPACA led to a reduction in hours? The EBRI analysis finds that between 2006 and 2010 (the year that PPACA was signed into law), the percentage of workers employed fewer than 30 hours per week increased from 11.9 percent to 14.1 percent, while the percentage of workers employed 30–39 hours per week also increased, from 11.4 percent to 13.2 percent over the period. Since passage of PPACA, there has actually been a slight drop in the use of part-time workers, though this may be attributable to the drop in the unemployment rate.

Indeed, the percentage of workers with coverage through their own job has been trending downward since 2007 regardless of hours worked per week. However, in relative terms, the EBRI report notes that part-time workers have experienced a much larger decline in coverage than full-time workers. Between 2007 and 2012, workers employed 40 or more hours per week experienced a 3 percent reduction in the likelihood of having coverage from their own job, while those employed 30–39 hours per week experienced a 12 percent decline (those employed fewer than 30 hours per week experienced a 20 percent decline).

Among workers employed 30–39 hours per week, both those who worked for a large employer and those who worked for a small employer experienced a 9 percent decline in coverage between 2008 and 2012.

The data confirm that the recent recession resulted in an increased use of part-time workers, but since 2010 the percentage of workers employed less than 40 hours per week has declined slightly. The data also indicate that while both full-time and part-time workers have experienced drops in health coverage, part-time workers have been affected disproportionately.

The question, of course, is whether PPACA’s full-time worker definition will accelerate – or ameliorate – those trends.

The uninsured rate for working-age Americans ticked down in 2011, but only because public program coverage grew faster than employment-based health insurance coverage declined, according to a new report by EBRI.

While employment-based health coverage is still the dominant source of health insurance in the United States, it has been steadily shrinking since 2000. The latest data show that it continued to do so last year.

The EBRI analysis finds that the percentage of the nonelderly population (under age 65) with health insurance coverage increased to 82 percent in 2011 (up about half a percentage point from 2010), which is notable since increases in health insurance coverage have been recorded in only three years since 1994.

However, different trends are taking place behind that overall result: Among the nonelderly population, employment-based coverage is trending down (58.4 percent had employment-based benefits in 20011, down from the peak of 69.3 percent in 2000), while public-program coverage is trending up (accounting for 22.5 percent of the nonelderly population, up from the low of 14.1 percent in 1999).

Enrollment in Medicaid (the federal-state health care program for poor) and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) increased to a combined 46.9 million in 2011, covering 17.6 percent of the nonelderly population, significantly above the 10.2 percent level of 1999. Other sources of public health insurance include Medicare (which covers many disabled as well as the elderly), Tricare, CHAMPVA, and Veterans Administration (VA) health insurance.

Full details of the EBRI report, “Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2012 Current Population Survey,” are published in the September 2012 EBRI Issue Brief, no. 376, online at www.ebri.org The report is based primarily on the March 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, with some analysis based on other Census surveys.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) appears to have had little impact on Americans’ confidence about their health care, according to a new report by EBRI.

“Public confidence about various aspects of today’s health care system has remained fairly level both before and after the passage of the health care reform law,” said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s Health and Education Research Center and author of the report. “The Supreme Court decision did not change how people view the system.”

Data from the EBRI/MGA 2012 Health Confidence Survey (HCS) show that two years after passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), implementation of a number of provisions in the legislation, and three months after the Supreme Court upheld the law, Americans offer a diverse perspective: 28 percent consider the nation’s health care system to be “good,” 28 percent say “fair,” and 26 percent rate it “poor,” while 12 percent rate it very good and 5 percent say it is “excellent.”

Fronstin noted that, in contrast with the ratings for the health care system overall, Americans’ rating of their own health plans continues to be generally favorable—more than half of those with health insurance are extremely or very satisfied with their current plans, and a third are somewhat satisfied.

On the other hand, just 22 percent are extremely or very satisfied with the cost of their health insurance plans, and only 16 percent are satisfied with the costs of health care services not covered by insurance. Among those experiencing cost increases in their plans in the past year, 31 percent state they have decreased their contributions to retirement plans, and more than half have decreased their contributions to other savings as a result.

The report, “2012 Health Confidence Survey: Americans Remain Confident About Health Care, Concerned About Costs, Following Supreme Court Decision,” is published in the September EBRI Notes, available online at www.ebri.org The HCS examines a broad spectrum of health care issues, including Americans’ satisfaction with health care today, their confidence in the future of the health care system and the Medicare program, and their attitudes toward health care reform.

This week the Census Bureau released its annual report on income, poverty and the uninsured. The number of uninsured increases naturally because of population growth even when the percentage declines, but in 2011 both the percentage of the population and the number uninsured declined: Between 2010 and 2011, the percentage uninsured fell from 16.3 percent to 15.7 percent and the number fell from 50 million to 48.6 million. In fact, 2011 was only one of four years since 1994 that saw a decline in the percentage uninsured.

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Why did both those measures fall in 2011?

Some segments of the population did see an increase in employment-based coverage, notably young adults taking advantage of the adult dependent mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but these gains were offset by other loses (such as the decline in coverage from one’s own job for workers of all ages), negating any impact on the aggregate decline in the uninsured. The percentage of the population with employment-based health benefits stood at 55.1 percent in 2011, compared with 55.3 percent the previous year, so it would not account for the decline in the uninsured.

There was growth in the number of people covered by Medicaid and SCHIP (the State Children’s Health Insurance Program). In 2011, 16.5 percent of the population had Medicaid or SCHIP, up from 15.8 percent in 2010. So this increase accounted for some of the decline in the uninsured.

Overall, the decline in uninsured was largely associated with a rise in the share of people covered by government-sponsored health plans, increasing to 32.2 percent in 2011 from 31.2 percent in 2010.

Coincident with this trend, it’s worth noting that the leading edge of the Baby Boom generation (the cohort of individuals born between 1946‒1964) turned 65 in 2011, meaning that this generation is finally reaching Medicare eligibility.

Statistically, 65-year-olds have now reached 1 percent of the total U.S. population. While not yet a large number, it is the largest in recent history, driving up Medicare enrollments, and perhaps marking the cusp of a significant demographic shift in insurance trends.

Americans continue to report difficulty getting access to health care services, regardless of their type of health plan, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

When comparing traditional health plans with “consumer-driven” health plans (CDHPs), which include high-deductible health plans that offer a health savings account or health reimbursement arrangement, the latest EBRI survey finds that between 30−40 percent of respondents (depending on the question) reported some type of health care access issue for either themselves or family members in 2011.

Individuals in high-deductible health plans were more likely than those with traditional coverage to report access issues. Differences between those with traditional coverage and CDHP enrollees have been seen in the past, but no statistically significant difference was found in 2011.

However, people who had health problems and those at lower income levels were consistently more likely to report problems with health care access, according to EBRI.

“We find that access to health care services is an issue across the board,” said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s Health Research and Education Program, and author of the report. “Regardless of health plan type, individuals with health problems and those in households with less than $50,000 a year were more likely than their counterparts to report access issues.”

As more American senior citizens are entering nursing homes they face the likelihood that their household wealth will be quickly depleted, according to new research by EBRI.

The EBRI research notes that nursing home stays among older Americans have increased steadily during the past decade: Nursing home stays increased from 6 percent of those age 65 and older in 2000 to 8.5 percent in 2010.

Seniors face a number of retirement planning uncertainties like longevity risk, inflation risk, and investment risk, but perhaps none as critical to their retirement security as health risk. EBRI’s research also shows dramatic differences in wealth levels between those who enter a nursing home and those who do not, based on data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

For instance, after respondents’ first entries into a nursing home, total household wealth fell steadily over a six-year period. By comparison, household wealth increased steadily over the survey periods for those who never entered a nursing home. The EBRI report notes that the average cost for a semi-private nursing home room in the United States is $207 a day (or $75,555 a year) and between 10–20 percent of those who enter a nursing home will stay there for more than five years.

“Given the potentially catastrophic expenditure shock associated with nursing home stays, it is very important to examine how those who entered nursing homes in the past or those who are still living in those facilities manage their portfolios following a nursing home entry,” said Sudipto Banerjee, EBRI research associate and author of the report. “Almost all types of assets decline fast and steadily for those who enter nursing homes. In contrast, similarly aged people who never enter nursing homes experience a steady increase in their assets.”

The full report is published in the June 2012 EBRI Issue Brief, “Effects of Nursing Home Stays on Household Portfolios,” online here. The press release is online here.

A new report by EBRI shows that the percentage of workers with employment-based health coverage continues to shrink.

The EBRI analysis, which looks at month-by-month health coverage rates before, during, and after the recession, finds that the brief uptick in employment-based coverage immediately after the recession has not endured.

Employment-based health benefits are the most common form of health insurance for nonpoor and nonelderly individuals in the United States, covering 69 percent of workers, 35 percent of nonworking adults, and 55 percent of children.

Between December 2007, when the most recent economic recession officially started, and June 2009, when the recession technically ended, the percentage of workers with coverage in their own name fell from 60.4 percent to 56.0 percent. While that ticked up almost 1 percentage point by the end of 2009, by April 2011, the coverage rate was down to 55.8 percent.

“While the link between health insurance coverage and employment has long been known, these data underscore the degree to which unemployment rates directly affect the levels of the uninsured in the United States,” said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s Health Research and Education Program and author of the report.

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EBRI Perspectives serves to supplement EBRI’s regular publications, and allows EBRI to provide observations based on our research, as well as on questions that we get from news reporters, policymakers, and others.
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